Friday Journaling Prompt...
Hello, World!
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How did this week get to Friday so fast?
I took a couple days off social media to try and quiet the noise… and I have to say it was much needed. It could be my age, (I’m just going to say it… the 50’s are killing me right now…) but there seems to be so many things distracting me or clogging up my mind, that I have felt out of sorts this past week. I’ve also been extremely emotional, so that’s never a good place to post from. Much better to stay silent them speak from hormonal crazy town… ;)
What I’ve realized is there are so many things competing for our precious time in this world. Do you feel that as well? It is a choice these days to quiet the noise. It takes focus and time to choose to intentionally set our thoughts ( and our hearts and minds) on the things we believe are valuable and worth our time. And, if we aren’t intentional about this we open ourselves up to all the noise this world has to throw at us.
It’s a competition of sorts…
So what are we going to allow into our lives, (which includes our homes, family and our inner thoughts) that will ultimately influence us as we go forward with our lives?
I think this is defiantly a question to ask ourselves on a regular basis, and at different stages in our parenting role. I just had coffee with a friend yesterday and we had this conversation. My husband and I have raised almost all our girls into adulthood, with one still home as a teenager, and I look at my role as mother changing into a role of mentor and friend. She is going to be 17 this year and I’m past the stage of motherhood that tells them “no you may not” and now it’s more of an encourager, hoping she makes the right choices with the decisions she will have… but those choices are hers. The conversation with my friend was in regards to a very specific subject we were talking about, and we both happen to have 16 year old daughters. It’s so hard, because we want them to make the right decisions, we understand they will make mistakes along the way, and we are praying they have the skills to determine right from wrong in a world that is upside down. And let’s be honest, there is so much negative influence in this world. I pray the Holy Spirit brings a “check” in their spirit when there are decisions they need to make that may be in the face of this world’s views. I understand that as believers in Jesus Christ in the year 2021, and as people who hold the Bible as the moral code to live by, we are in direct opposition to the majority of the world around us. I’m “woke” in that regards, and if you stand by God’s Word you should be too. Our children are in the midst of it more than we are and this cancel culture idea is very dangerous. Unfortunately, the generation we are raising, and the next, are going to face much bigger hurdles than we ever did growing up in the 70’s & 80’s. May we be praying daily for them.
Which brings me to this Fridays’ Journaling Prompt…
If you have children, I would encourage you to journal your response with the perspective of a parent. If your children are raised or you don’t have influence over children or grandchildren, then journal your response to this question for your own heart or the desire you have for the next generation.
Here’s the prompt for this Friday:
“How do we guard our hearts and minds in a world that doesn’t value God?”
Like I stated earlier, we all have choices to make in life. There is free will to do what we want and be influenced by whomever we choose. If you are someone who loves Jesus there’s also grace when we mess up, because we are far from perfect and we will never be this side of Heaven. Our children need to know how to do this though. If we don’t know or we don’t show them, then how are they going to learn this? At 16 years old, our youngest needs to be encouraged in this before she heads off to college; and this week I have been thinking that if I have a hard time quieting the noise around me, then she probably does too. So here’s a little “cheat sheet” from Philippians 4 that I want to encourage all of us to think about when writing in your journal this week, and when trying to live this question out:
Philippians 4:6-9 says: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
If we want peace in this life, it comes from right here in God’s Word. If we want to experience that kind of peace with others, in our homes and around the globe, we need this peace practiced in our daily lives. When we get anxious, like I did earlier this week, we can come back to this… in prayer and supplication, WITH thanksgiving… and think on THESE things! These qualities Paul is talking about may look so outdated and old fashion, but they are desperately needed in 2021! So let’s meditate on them this weekend and share these encouraging words with our families.
Friends, I hope this journaling prompt is an encouraging way for you each week to stop the noise, quiet your thoughts, and direct them back to the God who loves you so much He doesn’t want us feeling out of sorts! He desires for us to feel His peace each and every day.
If you want to look back on other journaling prompts, I started this a few weeks ago so you can find them on this blog under: Friday Journaling Prompts. I hope you enjoy these reflective prompts and I would love to hear your feedback on them.
We are working on finishing our “Spring Journaling Kit” TODAY, so we can have it in the shop this Saturday! We’re waiting on a few things from Belgium (this Spring Kit has a vintage European vibe with a lot of the items from France, Italy and Belgium) and all these photo’s are from my Traveler’s Notebook inserts with this Spring Kit, so this is a little “tease” I guess of what’s to come very soon!
Have a wonderful day and enjoy your weekend!
Hugs,
Laura McCollough